This piece was adapted from an article written by Mary Galime from Denis Wick.
Did you know that quiet practice was only a side benefit, but not the main purpose of the Denis Wick Practice Mute? Denis actually intended it to be a practice tool that could be used for opening up a player’s throat for breathing, broadening the tone, and helping to fix a host of other playing issues as well. This makes it an excellent buy for a serious brass student, a trusted tool which teachers can recommend to their pupils. Here are five ways you can use the mute to improve your students' playing.
1. Open your sound
Do you have a student who struggles with projection? This can be caused by an overly tight embouchure, poor breathing, or inefficient blowing, to name a few culprits. Use this exercise with your student, or even for yourself, and hear the immediate improvement:
- Have the student play an easy scale or small section of music.
- Have them do the same section again, but this time using the practice mute and have them blow so hard that they make it sound almost “wobbly”.
- Take the mute out and have them play the same section with “normal” air, and the sound will be miraculously more open. Denis Wick developed this exercise to “open the throat” spaces and allow the student to play with better air and a relaxed throat.
2. Solidify those inconsistencies
Are you working on recital material that regularly visits a part of the range your student finds difficult? Tension and inefficient air usage are so often the main culprit. Take that section and use the aforementioned exercise daily, to help train the student to relax even in the hardest sections of their pieces!
3. Get back in shape
Sometimes students whose lessons are attached to schools will take a lot of time off playing in summer. Getting back in shape can take a long time if approached in an unhealthy manner. Not only will the DW practice mute help with your blowing efficiency, but it’ll also keep your output nice and quiet while regaining confidence and control, meaning your neighbours won’t have to hear those frustrating initial struggles!
If you’ve got a student who is looking to get back into playing after a break, or perhaps is switching from one brass instrument to another, the practice mute is a great tool to speed up that process in a convenient way.
4. Soothe those weary chops
Some brass pupils actually end up doing a huge amount of playing across a week, particularly if they’re involved in music both inside and outside of school. It’s important for them to find a way to relax their lip muscles, and one way to do so is spending some time doing light “calisthenics” on the horn, such as long tones, lip slurs and articulation exercises, using the mute. The mute will help bring your lips and focus back into balance, so you are ready for the next rehearsal or performance.
5. Practice makes perfect
Extended time away from the instrument can be a real issue for brass players. You don’t want to risk losing your embouchure during time away. So, when your student (or even you!) go on a long vacation, bring the practice mute. Just getting a warmup in every day will keep you in shape enough to carry on where you left off upon getting back. While the mute will not literally silence your sound, it will drastically “mute” it, so it does not travel past your hotel walls!
Chamberlain Music supplies Denis Wick practice mutes for Trumpets and Cornets, Trombones and Euphoniums.
Many thanks to Denis Wick for providing the original article, which you can find here. You can find more articles by Mary Galime and various Denis Wick artists here.
For more about instruments teaching early stages brass, check out our article from pBone music here.
